


The Terror, Hidden Within

by FictionWriterD



Category: Original Work
Genre: Body Horror, F/M, Gen, Gore, Insanity, Lovecraftian, Lovecraftian Monster(s), Monsters, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:21:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29134728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionWriterD/pseuds/FictionWriterD
Summary: In a world overrun by eldritch horrors, humanity struggles to survive.  Then there's Jericho Creed, a man who struggles with his inner demons on a daily basis.  Hunted by monsters and humans alike, he seeks refuge from everything in the last place one would expect to find: the subway tunnels of London.  There he finds a group of survivors who are struggling to escape the same tunnels, claiming a monster is hunting them.





	1. Chapter 1

Pink lightning flashed across the sky. Abnormal by most standards but ever since the fall of man in the year 2000 it was quite common. No more was it more than above the former city of London. A permanent storm clod had formed after the Fall had begun and had remained over a decade later. Thunder boomed erratically and while it was obviously a storm was going on there was no sudden drop in temperature or even rain to speak of. Those details added to its mystery.

Yet those humans who remained alive after the Lesser Beings and the Great Ones had traversed the astral plane to reach Earth had other problems to worry about. Top priority being how to survive on a daily basis. In the decade plus amount of years since the Fall the number of humans on earth had fallen to an unknown number and most likely would never be fully known. Large cities, formerly home to millions, were reduced to small pockets of survivors struggling to live in a world that had returned humankind to life not unlike that of the Middle Ages. Technology was gone, the first casualty of the Great Ones' arrival, and soon after life was torn apart at the seams, never to be put back together.

Yet there were those who survived, against all odds. Whether by adapting to the harsh new world, or by luck as they hid from sight from both human and monster alike.

Then there was Jericho, who fell somewhere in between. The young man in a black overcoat that was covered in tears and holes was the only source of protection from the elements over his clothes, most notably the black shirt with a flaming green skull that adorned his chest. He walked along the railroad tracks which had kept him going in a straight line from an ungodly amount of hours. His feet were hurting like hell in his black boots but he knew if he stopped he might as well be committing suicide. The dead countryside outside London were home to unspeakable terrors like large canines that moved at cheetah speeds and even larger cosmic worms the size of Greyhound buses that lived underground. Either way he'd end up something's dinner if he stopped, and since he didn't want to end up on a menu he kept trucking along.

Didn't mean he couldn't bitch about it as he did, which he took great liberty of doing.

"Fuck this fucking walking all day long. Where's a bar when i need one..." he huffed between words, the pain in his feet throbbing annoyingly.

From where he stood he was approaching a thick fog bank which prevented him from seeing further along the tracks. Nothing like a little mystery to add to his travel. That or another thing to bitch about. The Brit did not heed the fog and kept on walking.

The scratching on the gravel behind him alerted his ears as a large black furred dog ran up to his side. Twice the size of a German Shepard the six eyed hound known to Jericho as Shuck kept its head forward and while he occasionally stopped to sniff the air he managed to keep up the pace with his master. He even ran ahead from time to time in order to check out the area ahead. Though the dog was a bit hesitant as the fog enveloped them.

This didn't escape Jericho's notice. 'If even the dog is a bit jumpy then its something not very normal-" he scoffed at his own choice of words. "-Fuck, normal has been out of style for a long time."

Chuckling at his own humor Jericho went on walking. As he went he began to notice changes in the environment. Overturned subway cars on the side of the tracks being the big change, all badly damaged and showing signs of deterioration. No doubt the remnants of a subway system from old London. He kept on walking while Shuck went to sniff around the first train car they passed. Eventually the black opening of a subway tunnel came into Jericho's view. First he felt a bit of relief at the sight of a man made structure.

"Maybe now i can rest my fucking feet." He already couldn't wait to take a nap, though he wouldn't have a blanket to keep himself warm he'd have to make due with his coat. One of the old train cars had to have a seat left that wasn't bloody or destroyed, he thought.

As he began to move closer to the tunnel opening, seeing nothing but a black hole, Jericho suddenly felt a bit of unease go through him. Though the warm summer air should have prevented him from doing so, he felt a chill shake his entire being. There was something off about the tunnel, but he couldn't figure out why.

'I've never been here before so why the hell...'

Shuck got up next to him as he pondered, his ears perked up, hearing a noise in the distance though Jericho heard nothing.

"What's wrong boy?"

The dog started to growl, which was demonic sounding in addition to barring his teeth, all razor sharp and soaked with saliva. Then without warning he barked and ran straight ahead into the tunnel.

"Shuck! Get back here-" Jericho shouted but knew it would do no good. Shuck had vanished into the blanket of grey. "Shit...there goes the only one who will listen to-huh?"

The air grew still, even the wind died out and no crickets were heard. That was the first red flag. The second was even stranger. A small sound echoed through the still air. Jericho heard it and for a moment he felt a chill go up his back.

He might have been second guessing himself, but he swore he heard a voice speak to him.

'Keep going...'

Slowly Jericho turned his head to look back over his shoulder, his right hand going under his coat to his hip where a serrated six inch knife was clipped to his belt.

A mysterious tunnel leading underground. A voice telling him to move forward. Jericho smirked at the circumstances. "Crazy ass world I am in. Fine, looks like I'm heading down."

He took a deep breath and went on ahead, almost dragging his sore feet with each step.

And while he missed it, for a brief moment the dark outline of a figure in the fog behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

Water dripped from the ceiling and that was what woke Eclipsa from her slumber. She took notice of the lights flickering above her head and yawned. She was grateful to have been able to sleep, but more importantly she was glad to be alive.

"One would never know if you shut your eyes if you will ever open them again," she said softly, her Cockney accent thick in her tone. The small office space was mostly dark save for the one light over her head, and the rest of the place was in total disarray. It had been one of the various waiting rooms used in the subway before the Fall. Now it had as the young woman's place of living since she had arrived in London. Her and at least three others had decided to share the place until they could move on.

How they had avoided the monsters and possessed Eclipsa did not know, but luck more than likely had a role to play in their survival.

Eclipsa got to her feet and put on her black denim jacket and tied her auburn hair up in a tail. Loose strands framed her cherub cheeks. Hazel eyes, slightly red with sleep peeked through a few stray strands of her bangs. Though north of twenty the woman born in Liverpool looked younger than she let on and more often than not people thought she was a young teen on first meeting her.

"Wonder where the other two went?" Eclipsa spoke of the two men she had met on her way into the subway. Mitch and Chuck. Brothers who had fled from a nearby hamlet and had tried to take shelter in the subway. Eclipsa had practically begged them to let her come along and they agreed only because she told them she knew about London's layout.

Of course, that had been a lie. She had never been to London in her life. Yet she lied to get what she wanted.

Still that lie may play like karma to her later, and she knew damn well what that was like.

As she got her short heeled brown leather shoes on the girl thought about her worst case scenario. "Maybe those two left me? It's been a while since I last spoke to them. Fuckers better not have."

She went over to the door and made sure it was locked by turning the knob. A small window to the outside was on the door and she took a peek outside. Water pipes hung from a heavily cracked ceiling and a chaotic downpour of water made puddles on the tiled floor. A disabled subway car was right across from the door and a set of stairs that led up to the ground floor was to the left while a long dark tunnel that led to the outside was to the right.

Two days earlier Eclipsa had met Chuck and Mitch outside the tunnel above ground and had retreated into the underground to escape the cloaked followers of Legion. Mitch had hoped to find his family, whom he had been separated from sometime earlier while Chuck was just hoping to find a safe haven.

Neither of them had found what they had been looking for.

Now Eclipsa had been playing look out while the two men had left and thus she had been alone for God knows how many hours.

Eclipsa made sure her black tight black tank top and short ash grey skirt were right. She left her jacket undone but wore leather biker gloves on her hands. The outline of a heart was tattooed on her outer left thigh. She was feeling like leaving the room to look for them, otherwise she would leave out the way she came and forget about them. A slight bit of apprehension did hold her back from outright leaving right then and there, though not out of a guilty conscience. "Those dicks better get back 'ere 'fore I bugger off-"

A face popped in front of the window and scared the hell out of the woman. So much so she screamed.

"Eclipsa! Open the door now!"

The face was familiar. A bit bloody and eyes full of fear, but Eclipsa saw it was Chuck frantically knocking on the door with heavy fists.

Eclipsa felt her heart race but she calmly spoke, "There you are! What's the big idea scaring me like that? Where's your brother?"

Last she had checked Chuck had gone off to find Mitch when he had gone to look for anything in the other subway cars. That had been hours ago, but Eclipsa could not see the other man with his brother. That made her feel insecure, on top of how Chuck was behaving.

Chuck pounded on the door once again, his eyes going wide, "H-He's gone! They got him! Now let me in!"

Her stomach turned upside down and her legs began to shake. The followers of Legion had found them? It was time to go, with or without the other man. She was beginning to fill with terror. "F-Fine just gimme a sec-" She reached for the knob when she heard a high rate of scratching sounds fast approaching the door from Chuck's side. She hesitated, "The hell is that?"

Chuck looked back over his shoulder and even from the small window Eclipsa could see the terror in his face. His skin turned pale and she could make out sweat pouring down his forehead. "Just open the fucking door! Please!"

His plea convinced her to move. Now scared out of her wits Eclipsa began to unlock the door to let him in when he screamed. First it was in terror then the blood curdling and unmistakable shriek of pain . Eclipsa's hand left the handle and she fell backwards onto the floor when Chuck was violently pressed against the door.

He screamed for help before he was violently pulled away and pulled tot he ceiling. Though she didn't know what happened after that Eclipsa was too scared to even try to look out the window again. She scurried to hide under a heavy metal desk nearby, all the while she could hear bones being crunched and a scurrying of something outside her door.

The thunder from outside, as well as the fog, grew quieter as Jericho ventured into the tunnels. Water dripped constantly and the entire area was damp. The lights inside the tunnel were somehow still operational despite it being so long after the Fall, though Jericho chalked that up to a simple premise. "People must hide off and on in here."

The lights flickered often and even when they were steady in their light it was weak, offering little in terms of illumination. Jericho admired the persistence of anyone trying to live here but also thought they were fools. "Trying to establish a permanent haven under the eyes of Legion? Morons." Putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket the Brit walked on into the tunnel as if he was on a Sunday stroll. In the front of his mind he wondered what else he would find. Hopefully a hot woman or two. It had been awhile since he had seen one.

Shuck went on ahead a few yards and sniffed most of the areas he came across while Jericho took his time. Thankfully because of the lights Jericho didn't need a flashlight to navigate the area, though he made a point to find one eventually, just in case his luck went south. It usually did.

So far there was little for Jericho to seem worried about. Sure it was damp and a bit spooky but compared to what the Brit had encountered outside this was a Sunday picnic.

Then he heard crunching under his feet, and his tune changed in a hurry. He felt some gravel under his boots but they were also somewhat sticking to the ground. "The fuck?"

He stopped and knelt down to check the ground. Shuck came up to him, curious to see what he had missed. Jericho scooped up a handful of the dirt and rock and then dropped it all, but what got his attention was a white silky substance that stuck to his gloved hand. It was like string you would fire from a can but was far more stringy.

"Almost like a web-oh shit," he rolled his eyes and stood up. Shuck's six green eyes followed him up. It was a spiderweb, and a sneaking feeling came over Jericho as he began to look at the ground ahead of him. Sure enough on the gravel and through openings big enough for anything to walk through, web was strung out. From the ceiling to the ground and all along the gravel. It was everywhere. Even though his knowledge on bugs was nothing to be proud of, Jericho knew he was walking into a spider's den. He didn't shake with fear. In fact, to anyone's surprise he was actually pissed. More at himself than anything, he should've known that shelter in a subway was too good to be true.

Shuck looked down the tunnel and went on ahead at a steady pace in spite of the webbing.

Jericho meanwhile took notice of something else. The webs, while creepy, had something peculiar about them. Wanting to make sure he wasn't just imagining it the Brit walked up to a long strand and lightly pushed his hand against it. Normally a web stretching like this one would bend when pressured but like a rubber band it would snap back into place. It stuck to his hand but it didn't take much to remove it. The stickiness was barely there. "It's old, likely hasn't been seen to in a long while."

While that would sound like a good thing at first glance, there was something to be apprehensive about. Spiders who lived in burrows tended to widen their ground web into a wide area to see what would step on it. That edge would be tended to the least.

Jericho wasn't an idiot. "If I go further in, I will eventually run into whatever made this web."

The fact had dawned on him that with webbing like this, the spiders that had spun them would no doubt be huge. Yet as that thought ran through his mind Jericho chuckled under his breath. Though he hadn't wanted to run into any danger nor did he had the desire to, he couldn't help but smile at the prospect of fighting for his life. Armed only with a few daggers he had picked up along the road he wasn't exactly armed to deal with monsters.

Still, what was life without a little bit of excitement?


End file.
